


You Were a Tidal Wave

by alphaesque



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe- Dreamverse, Doomed Relationship, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Not a Love Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-09
Updated: 2014-01-09
Packaged: 2018-01-06 21:03:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1111492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alphaesque/pseuds/alphaesque
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maybe, Allison thinks as the blood pools around her legs and the pain becomes sharper (more like blades and less like needles) against her skin, in another life, things could have been different. Maybe they could have been happy.</p><p>Maybe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Were a Tidal Wave

**Author's Note:**

> warning: there is character death; there are characters who are dead that I say "fuck you" and bring back because i can; there are mentions of violence.
> 
> a big, huge, gigantic thank you to my girls [shelby](../../users/laurahalee) and [thea](../../users/alphamccalls) for beta'ing this beast. and also a kiss- with some light petting- for thea because of the "anger in her hair" and her not being able to "hakuna her tatas right now" xoxo

Maybe, Allison thinks as the blood pools around her legs and the pain becomes sharper against her skin (more like blades and less like needles), in another life, things could have been different. Maybe they could have been happy.

Maybe.

———

Allison meets her on a Tuesday.

She remembers this because there had been laughter in Lydia’s car; laughter over something silly, and Allison had stepped out into the sun feeling light and stress-free.

Her best friend had sped off, honking twice- the first for goodbye, the second for the unspoken ‘I love you’- leaving Allison standing with a stupid smile on her face as she walked through the doors of Beacon Hills Memorial in search of Scott’s mom.

She remembers how slow the hospital had been that day. How Mrs. McCall had greeted her with a smile and a warm hug, eager to help her with her project as other nurses gathered ‘round just to pass the time.

She remembers hearing her laugh, it was the first thing she remembers about Kali, the first thing that really stuck with her; the way it flowed through the hall and had Allison faltering, causing her to misspell a word and pause for a moment to gather her bearings.

She remembers Kali in a nurse’s uniform, lips twisted up into a smile, hair falling loosely around her shoulders.

Allison remembers it clearly; a snapshot of a moment forever frozen in time, ingrained into her memory.

Kali hadn’t paid her any mind, instead she continued walking along with the orderly, laughing at a story over a shared patient.

Allison had watched her until she disappeared around the corner and fought the urge to drop her head into her hands.

Falling in love isn’t like the movies; it’s not a slow motion moment of two people meeting at a certain point in time. It isn’t one of them turning to meet the other’s gaze and, bam!, there it is: love.

No, it’s something slower, more meaningful.

It’s tricky; something warm and good on one hand, but also cold and destructive on the other.

Allison remembers the first time she met Kali because she didn’t fall in love.

———

The second time they meet is on accident. This time Kali does notice Allison because Kali runs straight into her, leaving her no choice but to stop and stare at the frazzled brunette girl carrying books and a tired expression.

Kali helps her pick up the few papers that had fallen and offers her a soft spoken apology.

Allison accepts both the apology and the invitation to get coffee.

(She misses her study session with Lydia in the process— and that apology requires more than just words and coffee but also kettle korn and yet another viewing of the Notebook.)

They talk for hours and Allison vaguely remembers details about the not-date. Kali, on the other hand, remembers how Allison’s hair was barely held together by pins and clips and how desperately her fingers itched to let it free.

Kali doesn't ask for her number and Allison tries not to feel disappointed when she waves goodbye and walks out.

———

The third time they meet, both remember it vividly.

Allison’s hair is shorter now, bouncing over her shoulders as she runs down the hallway alongside the stretcher. Her best friend was in an accident, hit by a drunk Peter Hale on his way home from her aunt Kate’s bar.

Lydia is holding on as best as she can and Allison refuses to leave her side, hands gripping her best friend’s until the doctors pry them apart and leave Allison shaking in the hallway.

Mrs. McCall is there; her hands are warm as she pulls her into a tight embrace. Allison doesn’t cry, there are no tears, only worry and anger brewing inside of her. She continues to shake until she’s moved into a quieter room where the TV plays old re-runs and the couch smells oddly like lilacs.

The couch is old; obviously well-loved and is comfortable enough for Allison to fall asleep on.

It’s Kali who wakes her with a blanket and coffee, who tells her that Lydia is stable and that her parents are with her now but as soon as they leave Kali’ll sneak her in.

"It’s not the same quality coffee as before, but hopefully it’ll do the trick."

Allison stares at the cup in her hand before she lets out a broken laugh. The tears fall then, leaving scorching trails down her cheeks and Kali pulls her close, lets her cry as the coffee turns cold.

She sees Lydia and stays with her until Mrs. McCall— (“how many times do I have to tell you to call me Melissa, Allison?”)— _Melissa_ hands her over to where Chris is waiting patiently.

Before she leaves, she stops and turns to where Kali is hunched over the nurse’s station looking tired and on the verge of crashing. Pushing the steaming cup she had asked her dad to pick up on the way into her hands, Allison does her best not to smile at Kali’s shocked expression. “It’s not the same quality that you gave me, but it should do the trick.”

Kali grins at her, fast and easy (something that Allison knows is for her alone) and thanks her by promising to check on Lydia whenever she can.

———

They see each other constantly from then on.

Allison is a regular at the hospital as Lydia recuperates from her leg being broken in three places, two cracked ribs, and a fractured collarbone, and Kali seems to live there herself, always present whenever Allison walks through the halls or sticks her head out of Lydia’s room to ask for yet another thing her best friend needs.

Stiles flops down in a chair one day and stares at Allison with unblinking eyes.

"Okay cut that out, it’s creepy." Allison looks up over her Calculus homework and raises an eyebrow. "Spit it out, Stilinski."

"What’s going on with you and that nurse?"

Lydia stops playing Call of Duty and gives Allison her undivided attention. “What nurse?”

"Kali is just a friend."

"Oh," Lydia licks her lips and gives Stiles a huntress’ smile, " _that_ nurse.”

Stiles tosses his hand up in the air, waving it dramatically towards Lydia. “How do you know about the nurse? You’ve been in bed this whole time!”

"That doesn't mean anything.” She picks her controller back up and takes a sip of the coke she had Stiles smuggle in. “Anyways, Derek told me.”

"I’m going to kill him," Allison quickly comes up with a variety of ways to utterly ruin him but then sighs when Lydia gives her the stink-eye: extreme version.

Apparently even _thinking_ about killing your best friend’s boyfriend is frowned upon or something.

"Okay, but that’s only because Melissa mentioned it at dinner the other night, and Scott then mentioned it to Derek when we were at his place after the whole," he waves his hand around airily, "fae incident with the teeth." Stiles opens up a bag of chips and shoves a handful into his mouth with the grace of a chimpanzee.

Allison’s pencil falls from limp fingers onto the floor and rolls until it’s lost somewhere under Lydia’s demon contraption of a bed. “She did what?”

"Yeah, she mentioned that you and Kali were getting pretty chummy these past few weeks and thought it was cute how much you two've," Stiles momentarily puts down the chips in favor of air quotations, “‘ _bonded_ ’."

Lydia snorts in a way that’s both unimpressed and unfairly ladylike, and goes back to the game.

When Melissa pops in to remind them that visiting hours are coming to a close, Allison ignores Lydia’s sing-song voice telling her that she’ll make sure to say hi to Kali for her if she stops by, and flicks her off as they gather up their stuff to leave for the night.

Leaving the hospital is always hard and Allison makes her way back to Lydia’s room twice before she’s firmly told to leave by the patient herself (but not before there’s a long, strong hug accompanied by an even stronger whispers of: ‘I love you’; ‘I’ll be back’; ‘Be safe;’ ‘Always.’)

Kali is walking out as Allison hurries to catch up to Stiles and Melissa and all they pause at the open doors, Stiles explaining that he’s got to meet his dad for dinner and he’ll see her later just as Melissa bids her own goodbyes.

Allison remembers hearing nothing but the way Kali says her name breathlessly through a smile, and how she’s sure that Kali can hear the sound of her heartbeat pounding rapidly in her chest.

"Hey did you-"

"I was wondering-"

It’s an awkward silence accompanied by awkward laughter, and finally the topic of dinner is approached. Allison grins and says yes before Kali can finish asking and Kali looks relieved to the point of shock at her slightly rushed answer.

The _very-much-so-a_ date is set for Saturday at nine and Kali walks Allison to her car, leaning on the door as she puts her stuff inside and grins at Kali with a slightly bashful smile.

Kali shuts the door after Allison gets in and watches her start up the car, fidgeting with the blaring radio before rolling down her window, mouth open in an unspoken goodbye.

She leans in before Allison can say anything, capturing the younger girl’s mouth with her own, and the car revs loudly as Allison accidentally steps on the gas, entirely grateful that the car was still in park.

Pulling back, Kali smirks and dips in for one more surprised kiss before licking her lips and striding off, waving over her shoulder as she goes. “See you Saturday, Allison.”

Allison clears her throat, eyes wide and barely manages to choke out an: “okay” before she drops her head onto the steering wheel and doesn’t bother to hide the small happy dance she does in her car.

———

The one date becomes two, two becomes three, and three turns into sleepless nights and spontaneous outings. And, before Allison knows it, she’s swept up in some cliche romantic comedy, with time passing her by as she divvies up her free moments between Kali and her friends, enjoying the few weeks she has left before graduation becomes less of a figment and more of a reality.

Three months into their relationship Allison gets the nerve to tell her parents about Kali. They're not supportive, but not completely unsupportive either. Allison has been legal since the inception of their relationship and, since her grades haven’t suffered and Lydia hasn't shown up at their house with a blowtorch, they have no real reason to tell her no. So, after an extremely awkward family dinner, with Kate rolling in halfway through and giving Kali the stink-eye for a good portion of the evening, Allison calls Lydia who declares them “an item” and then promptly drags Kali with her over to Derek’s new, not as shitty, apartment for her first group movie night.

Two weeks later, on the same day that Lydia’s leg cast comes off and she receives the first three of her acceptance letters (she’s the first person to receive her letters and the rest hover between a mixture of excitement and mind-numbing terror), Allison’s spring allergies hit full force.

She cancels her plans with both her friends and Kali, choosing instead to sit at home and marathon Leverage in her pajamas- where she can be congested _and_ irritable all she wants- and somehow manages to blackout for half of the day. She wakes to her mother's worried face hovering only inches above her own and her father's demands for her to go to the hospital immediately.

Allison refuses to go to the hospital for three days and almost gets away with not going until she passes out in the hall while on her way to her AP Human Geography class.

One phone call to her parents from the nurses’ office later, she’s whisked home just in time for Lydia to sign herself out of class and storm over (which is not as effective as it sounds, seeing as she’s still walking with a slight limp, and she ends up at their front door looking more flustered than angry.)

The three of them then forcibly take Allison to the E.R., where she’s diagnosed with the flu and given some heavy medications.

Two days and a handful of said medications later, Allison winds up back in bed with her body aching and her head pounding as if it's trying to break new ground.

“I feel like an idiot.”

Kali laughs and shifts slightly on the bed, moving so that she's sitting with her back up against the headboard next to Allison's bundled up form. "Don't. You had every right to feel concerned, especially since you've already passed out twice this week." Allison narrows her eyes at Kali, earning a shrug in response. "Melissa may have mentioned it."

“Of course she did." Picking at the tassels on the blanket her mother had draped across her before she and her dad had left for some conference in Nevada, Allison smothers another cough, her head protesting at the sudden movement. "I have the flu. It's not like I'm dying and I didn't even pass out, so I basically called you over here, away from your shift, for no reason.” burying her face in her hands, she lets out a long, congested sigh, “I'm embarrassed.”

Kali pries Allison's hands away from her face and smiles gently at her, “Don't be, I’m just happy that you called me. Even if I was the last person on your list.”

“You weren't,” she mutters, looking away from Kali's suddenly intense gaze, “I still had the rest of my friends to call…"

Kali preens, pleased that she was the first person Allison thought of in her time of need and nudges the soup closer to her, “You need to eat that, you know.”

“Pass.” Allison doesn't realize she's pouting until Kali bursts out into quiet chuckles; the pout was entirely unintentional, just something that happens when she's forced to come face-to-face with soup. Normally, when she's sick, the pout almost always works on her dad, who understands her distaste due to certain past events where she was constantly fighting a fever and forced to eat soup for almost a year under her mother's watch.

" _Allison_."

“Kali,” she challenges back, “I don't like soup.”

Kali considers her options, watching Allison as she glares over at the soup, biting her lower lip in concentration. She's not sure what to do with her warring emotions; on one hand she wants to care for Allison, to take care of her until her rosy color returns and the thick layer of sickness leaves her voice. On the other hand, she wants to kiss Allison until her body flushes from another sort of fever, she wants to cause Allison's body to erupt in tiny beads of sweat due as it quakes under Kali's careful touch, she wants to lose herself in Allison's smile, in her laugh, in the way she smells like gunpowder and cherry blossoms.

Allison suddenly lets out a long sigh and picks the spoon up tentatively, rolling it between her fingers. "Is this necessary?"

"Yes," Kali's surprised on how quickly the word escapes her lips, as if she had been holding it in this whole time. At a desperate attempt to remain casual, she lifts nervous fingers to Allison's face, tucking a sticky strand of hair behind her ear.

Leaning into her touch, Allison absorbs the cool feel of Kali's fingers against her flushed skin and then shoves the spoon into her mouth. Swallowing the soup, she makes a face at Kali but continues to eat.

Kali lets out a startled laugh; she can barely hear Allison muttering around the spoon, mumbling about pushy nurses and their crazy obsession with warmed up broth. “How is it?”

“Like liquid death,” is her curt, and extremely nasal, response and, okay, it's really not that bad. Actually, it's pretty good soup— not that Allison would even admit that on her _actual_ death bed— and Allison makes a mental note to have her mom find out where Kali got it because if she does happen to fall ill again, she wouldn't mind having this particular brand of soup as her poison of choice.

"At least you're eating," with a gentle push, Kali moves Allison until she's settled in-between the apex of her legs, allowing Kali to run her hands soothingly through Allison's hair, relaxing her without crowding her.

Leaning back into Kali's touch, Allison lets all of her questions— why did you agree to come? why did you stay? will you stay until I wake up? where is the stupid soup from? — fade to the back of her jumbled mind. Kali's fingers lure Allison into a sense of relaxation and security, giving her the right amount of safety she needs to let her fall asleep without worry of anything else.

When Allison wakes, the curtains have been pulled shut but it doesn't matter anyhow, it's dark outside and her clock reads close to eight pm. Shifting so that her skin can breathe and she can pull her shirt away from her sweat-slick skin, Allison comes in contact with someone else. Reaching over, she hastily flicks on the light and coughs out a sigh at the sight of Kali, wrapped up in one of Allison's many throw blankets, curled up into a ball, her feet dangling slightly off of the bed.

Allison manages to send Lydia, Stiles, and Scott texts in response to their many worried ones, assuring them that she's okay and has been napping the fever off, and then take her meds without waking Kali. As she's tip-toeing back towards the bed after a much needed pee, Kali shifts and blinks sleepily up at her, lips pursed in lightly veiled confusion.

"Where'd you go?"

"Bathroom," she moves back under the covers and wiggles until she's pressed up against Kali's back, "and to take my meds. It was time."

Kali shifts herself, moving so that she's almost spooning Allison, leaving her just a bit of wiggle room to move around in. "Okay."

Allison closes the gap, surprising Kali and rests her head on her chest, fingers sneaking down to intertwine with Kali's. "You didn't leave."

"I couldn't. Not until I knew you were okay." Pressing a kiss to Allison's hairline, Kali closes her eyes and lets herself fall back into a much needed rest.

Unclenching her fingers from their grip on Kali's shirt, Allison kisses Kali's jaw and embraces the unique feeling in her chest, a tidal wave of emotions that cascade through her and leave her feeling weightless. There's a buzz in her fingertips that radiates down to her toes and Allison knows then, with Kali sleeping soundly under her, her heart beating steadily in Allison's ear, that she loves her.

It's scary and new, different from how she felt about Scott in so many different ways, yet the feelings it causes are exactly the same. Sneezing into a tissue, Allison cups at her own heart and exhales every bit of air from her lungs.

She loves Kali— and that's enough for Allison to let go of all of her worries for the time being and simply trust her enough to be there when she wakes up.

———

Kali falls in love with her on a Sunday.

It’s early; too early for most to be up on a day that’s supposed to be filled with rest, and Kali numbly opens up the door to her apartment, dropping her keys in the designated bowl by the door before shuffling towards her bedroom.

Beacon Hills is a small town, surrounded by relative peace and slightly larger cities. Any accident is treated with emergency care due to the fact that accidents are few and far in-between.

Kali had been on the last hour of her shift when Sheriff Stilinski radioed in to inform them that there was an accident on the one-oh-nine and that a few casualties were being sent their way.

A few actually meant a dozen and Kali used the small gap of time they had before the emergency vehicles would arrive to race home for a change of clothes, leaving Allison a note on the kitchen counter to  tell her that she had to go back and that she was sorry to cancel their movie date (again).

Fourteen hours later, Melissa put a firm hand on Kali’s shoulder and steered her towards the door. They had lost a mother and son that night, the father had died on impact and the driver of the overturned semi was still in critical care.

Eyes blurry, Kali managed to get home and fall through her front door, tears threatening to fall from tired eyes.

The note was gone, she realized as she made her way towards her bedroom, but Allison wasn’t.

Wrapped up in the comforter set Kali was bullied into buying by a bossy strawberry-blonde, Allison slept peacefully, stirring only when she heard Kali start up the shower, quiet sobs leaking out from under the door.

Allison stripped and joined Kali on the shower floor, body wrapping around her as best as she could, shielding her from the horrors she had seen.

"Allison," her voice was worn and broken and Allison kissed Kali’s bare shoulder, hands folding over Kali’s wrists.

"I'm here, I'm here." The water finally sputters and turns cold some time later and Allison washes Kali's hair when the pain becomes too much for Kali to even physically handle. She cleans her up as best as she can before leading her into bed, Kali following behind her, body sagging from the weight of what she had witnessed, of what she knows she will one day have to witness again.

Surrounded by the scent of Allison, Kali burrows herself into the girl and holds on until her knuckles turn white. “I love you.” There it is, blurted out because it finally felt right, just as simple and painless as that.

Allison’s breath comes out quickly, ghosting against Kali’s cheeks, and it's followed by soft, relief filled laughter. “I've been waiting for the right time to tell you, but of course you had to go first.” Kali grins into where her face is pressed into Allison’s collarbone and kisses it gently, “I love you too.”

The pain doesn't go away, and neither do the tears, but having Allison there, rubbing small circles on her back and whispering soothing words until Kali's eyes flutter shut and her mind slips into a dreamless sleep, makes her feel as if she can make it through another day as long as she's got Allison by her side.

———

“I want to build a fort,” Allison's request is so simple, so blatant, that it originally takes Kali off guard.

Kali turns her, her eyebrows raising inquisitively, a pondering smile spreading across her face. “What?”

“A fort, Kali.” Her voice is a long drawl; reminding Kali of the slow drip of molasses, indicating her boredom without having to even voice it aloud.

Allison stares at her thoroughly, her dark eyes trained on hers in an unwavering stare. It's an unusual request, but nothing about her- or them- is akin to being usual in the first place.

“Is there any particular reason you want to build a fort, darling?”

Allison keeps staring at her; her lips pressed into a tight, firm line. “I've never been inside of one before, you know. My mother was always afraid Kate and I would break something.”

The twist in Kali's stomach has her reaching forward and pressing a lingering kiss in the middle of Allison's palm, “Ok. Lets get to work.” It doesn't take her long to find the necessary materials needed in order to build her the fort. Strolling over to the couch, she pushes it away from the wall, giving them enough space to use it as the basis for the fort. Draping the blanket down and across, Kali secures it so that there will be no room for it to come crashing down.

It would be just her luck that the fort would crash down and around them as soon as they finish it. Even the thought of that happening has her slightly wincing, making sure to tie the knots extra tight— just in case.

It only takes her a few minutes to set up the design of the fort. She starts to work on the exoskeleton with help from Allison, working their way inwards once Kali was certain that the foundation would hold up.

Allison watches her with an analytic stare; every movement Kali makes is done under watchful eye and perhaps, if it was someone else, her constant staring would give them cause to trip them up and make them them sloppy. In Kali's case it only makes her work harder to make sure that Allison is pleased with the end result.

“So what was the whole point of this fort?” Kali asks when they're curled up inside of it a bit later. She had finished up the fort with a quick fluff of the pillows and an offered hand held out to Allison, ready to escort her inside of Kali's masterpiece.

Allison had taken her hand with a pleased, and oddly smug, smile and ducked inside. Now she sits, legs crossed, surrounded by blankets and pillows, with a look on her face that has Kali thinking there was more to her plan than just a fort.

“Other than the whole ‘I've never been inside of a fort before, Kali’ line you fed me earlier," she continues on, despite the feeling that creeps up her spine, making her feel as if she's Allison's prey and it's girlfriend season.

Allison meets her gaze with a small, alluring quirk of the lips. “Have you ever had sex inside of a fort, Kali?”

Kali blinks, completely taken aback by the context of her question, “What?”

“Have you ever,” she moves towards her now, making her way into Kali's lap to straddle her, “had sex inside of a fort?”

“I can't say I have, no.”

“Neither have I," running her fingers across the soft fabric of Kali's sweater, Allison presses light kisses down her jawline, teasing along the curve of her lips. Allison's voice has dipped, taking on a smoky edge to it, eyes sparkling with the plans that have yet to come. “Let's do it.” Allison tugs down on Kali's lower lip, sucking on it slightly before biting down hard. “Let's have fort sex.”

Kali wraps her arms around her, burying her face into Allison's neck, biting and sucking at the tender skin. She coaxes Allison down onto her back so that she can watch her every expression, her fingers already working on the buttons of Allison's thick plaid skirt. Allison obliges and lifts her arms, allowing Kali access to pull her shirt off, gifting her with the pleasant surprise of Allison's naked breasts rather than a bra. Nipping at Allison's collarbone, Kali works her way down and breathes teasingly on Allison's breasts before closing her mouth around one, her fingers twisting at the other.

She hadn't known Allison could make so many contented noises. She hummed and let out cute little moans while Kali works her fingers downwards, working on pulling off her soft cotton shorts. Allison had been vocal before, loud grunts and moans that they had to muffle when they were in the back of Allison's car, or in a bathroom during Kali's breaks. But these noises are different; they're little gasps and sighs of pleasure that are almost too intimate, too trusting, causing Kali to suddenly feel unworthy of the young girl in front of her.

Splaying her fingers across the warm skin of Allison's stomach, she presses a lovebite gently at the spots where the curve of Allison's ribs appear as ripples in her skin. Smiling a secret smile, Kali rubs the pad of her thumb over her previous marks and licks a wet circle around her belly button, laughing when Allison tugs urgently at her sweater, yanking it upwards. "Impatient much?" she teases, ducking away from Allison's touch.

She moves quickly, her fingers burying themselves into Kali's hair, scraping at her scalp as Allison kisses Kali with enough force to suck the life out of her. She doesn't bother to come up for air, relying on her swimmer's lungs to wait Kali out. Kali's heart is sent hammering in her chest, her mind going beautifully blank as she moves her lips against Allison's, her grip bruising on Allison's hips.

Allison uses that distraction to yank her sweater over her head, her hands caressing down the front of Kali chest's, unhooking her bra. "I can't believe that worked," she murmurs, shifting beneath her.

"What?"

"I wonder if any of the other moves Lydia's taught me would work," she muses, pleased by the results, her fingers running up and down the smooth expanse of Kali's bare skin.

Kali's eyes widen as she wonders that herself, "Other moves?" she raises a sole brow, "What other moves?"

Allison chews thoughtfully on her lip; considering whether or not she should save some of her moves for a later time and place. Kali hooks her fingers around Allison's thong and pulls downward, thumb brushing against the opening of her sex. "Ah! Okay, ah, there…is one that I wanted to try."

Kali brushes her thumb once more, enjoying the way Allison bucks against her, and kisses her neck. "Show me."

She leans back and cocks her head, curls falling over her shoulders, her lips curling upward in a sultry smile. One finger twirls a piece of hair around her finger, her tongue peeking out to run across fevered lips, watching Kali through half lidded eyes.

"Fuck," she traces the curve of Allison's cheekbone before connecting their lips in a fierce kiss.

Allison wraps her arms around Kali's neck, pulling her closer as she settles her weight around her, sliding her hands down until they've dipped under the scrubs Kali had forgotten to take off after she had returned home from work and flopped down onto the couch. Her skin was soft, her fingers trailing the individual vein lines up and down Kali's leg before crawling their way back upwards.

Kali groans, a sound Allison immediately echoes before she whimpers in loss as Kali moves away, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, fingers still spread across Kali's thigh, burning her mark into her skin. The air is cold against Allison and her whimpers of protest turn into low moans, quickly picking up in tempo as Kali slides her fingers in and out of Allison's sex, adding in a third just to watch her writhe in pleasure.

Kali smiles as she turns her attention back to Allison's breasts, sucking on their curves, taking her time unravelling Allison at the seams, listening as her moans morph into delighted, breathless gasps as the clenching hands on her back become seeking claws. She torments her to the best of her ability, all the while her lips never leaving Allison's skin.

She can tell the moment Allison reaches her breaking point, her shoulders arcing from the floor, her restless movements, the way she gasps in breath.

And then, she's still. Allison closes her legs tightly together, stilling Kali's movements and wiping the smirk from her face. "What's wrong?"

"Not without you," gripping Kali's shoulder tightly, she uses what little strength she has left to dig under an inconspicuous pillow, pulling out the dildo Allison had given Kali as an anniversary gift and a bright pink condom. "I came prepared."

"Apparently," the dryness in Kali's tone could have brought upon an endless drought, but Allison knows better and nips the bottom of Kali's lip, fingers deftly unwrapping the condom.

She reaches for Kali as she settles her weight over Allison, trailing her fingers up and down her sides. With a hum, she dips a finger into Kali's sex, eyes asking permission. Kali's smile is all the affirmation she needs, and twists her wrist to align their bodies perfectly, hips shifting against hers in an unconscious demand to pick up where they left off.

Kali enters her fingers back into Allison, thumb brushing against her clit, teasing her nerves into a tight coil while Allison pushed and caressed, forcing them into a quick, unsteady rhythm. Her legs shake, toes cracking and curling, the feeling of her muscles contracting just for every nerve ending to split and explode, is enhanced by the vibrator and the way Kali sucks on the sensitive skin behind Allison's ear.

Then, in the exact moment that Kali collapses on Allison, so does their fort.

She bursts out into low laughter, her head buried in Allison's neck, pleased to hear her muffled giggles in response.

"I'm surprised it lasted that long," she whispers, throat painfully sore, her hands stroking Kali's damp back.

"What are you saying about my fort building skills there, Miss Argent?”

“Nothing,” she replies cheekily. Allison stretches happily, enjoying the loose feeling that always comes after sex. Feeling the weight of Kali's gaze on her, Allison leans forward to peck her on the lips, resting their foreheads together for a long moment, her face pulling into a wide grin that resonates in her gaze, before she pulls away. “Your fort building skills surpass anyone else’s. You are the most coveted fort builder there is, Kali.”

“Yes,” Kali rolls over onto her side, curling her long body around Allison's, tucking her face into the curve of her shoulder, "and don't you forget it.”

———

When you love someone you try to make it work.

And they did, truly they did.

There were skype calls and long drives on weekends, pushing it farther with every oncoming Sunday night so that they could try to spend every free moment they had together. There were texts and phone calls between Allison’s classes and on Kali’s breaks. There were voicemails full of laughter and some full of tears.

Eventually, though, it became too much.

It was Kali who ended their relationship and Allison wondered if you’re supposed to feel this empty when you knew it was inevitable.

The distance between them plus Allison’s first year of college and Kali’s work schedule made it hard just to find time to be _them_.

Even though Allison knew by the way Kali pulled back slowly, ensuring that they could remain friends, she still crawled into bed and slept through her classes, slept until she felt physically ill.

It lingered for a bit, the hurt. The feeling was something akin to an open wound- this according to Scott, who pushed her out of bed for their English course and made her put something other than week old pajamas on.

It took her three weeks to finally put away Kali’s old scrub top and go out with her friends for dinner and a movie.

Three weeks after the breakup she agreed to go to a party with Stiles.

Four weeks after she had her first date with a girl named Cora who was in her Intro to Sociology class (who, much later on, Allison realized was The Cora- as in _Derek's little sister_ , Cora). They went to see a movie Allison still can’t remember and fooled around in the back of Allison’s car.

Three weeks after that she and Cora agreed that they worked better as friends and Allison introduced Cora to Stiles and Scott’s roommate, Boyd.

She moved on as best as she could. She put the pictures in a box and gave that box to Kira to hide for her. She dated on and off, spent most of her time with Scott and Stiles watching crappy rom-coms and ignoring the sounds of them making out even after they promised to keep their hands to themselves this time. And, suddenly, the weeks had turned into months and the months passed by until her first year of college was over.

Standing outside of her dorm, Allison turns to Lydia and bumps their shoulders, grin spreading from ear to ear. “We made it.”

"Hell yeah we did," Stiles tosses his arms around the both of them and only grins wider when Lydia shakes him off, feigning annoyance.

Cora strolls up minutes later with Boyd in tow, their hands happily intertwined as they go over summer plans. Lydia ducks away from Stiles' second attempt at a hug and pulls Cora off to the side.

"Come on, buddy, join the love." Scott appears out of nowhere and both he and Stiles pull Boyd into an impromptu, and slightly unwelcomed, hug.

Boyd sighs, louder than anyone ever should, but hugs them back nevertheless.

"When does Derek get in?"

Lydia, who had flown in the previous night in order to help Allison finish packing, checks her phone where Derek’s flight plan is only one tap away. “Two hours. Time to go.”

Stiles grabs Allison’s bag and Scott’s hand, rushing off after Lydia’s long strides and Allison shifts her pace to fit Boyd’s leisurely one.

"Where’s Erica?" Allison wouldn't consider her and Boyd to be close exactly— though it may or may not have be because she drunkenly made out with Erica and then drunkenly hooked up with her a few weeks later (thankfully before her and Boyd were even an item but it caused a bit of tension at the beginning since she just happened to have been involved with both his girlfriends previously).

Despite the initially frosty start, Boyd ended up warming up to her due to the sheer fact that she spent just as much time in his dorm as Scott and Stiles did. Her presence, whether it be before or after class, or crashing after parties on weekends, caused him to learn little bits about her and caused her to realize that Boyd’s a pretty cool guy, even when he glares at you when both of his girlfriends hug you just a little bit too long to be friendly- plus the fact that he roomed with Stiles and Scott without killing them means he’s either a saint or he has the patience of one.

Boyd peers down over his sunglasses at Allison and then smiles, “Helping Isaac pack up the rest of his stuff. She’s staying with me and my family this summer.”

Allison only knows bits and pieces about Erica’s home situation from Cora’s angry rants, but from what she’s heard, her parents are neglectful and uninterested in their daughter. Her being able to spend a summer with Boyd and his family— his mother sent their dorm a care package every month and his little sister called him every Sunday night at eight, no exceptions— meant that Scott could tell his mom that she didn't have to make up the couch for him to sleep on, and also that she didn't have to worry about finding any hidden surprises from his and Stiles' last visit home while making up his room for her. “That’s great.”

"Yeah," Boyd’s grin only increases in volume and Allison finds herself smiling back, caught up in his happiness. "Scott said that his boss, Dr. Deaton, has another opening at the vet’s office so hopefully I can help out there instead of the ice rink this year."

Allison still finds it weird that they all managed to come together in college rather than in high school. “Deaton is- for all intents and purposes- Scott’s father, so I’m sure since Scott’s said nothing but good things about you, Deaton will give you the job.”

Boyd looks a little relieved at this bit of information and whatever he had been planning to say is cut off by Lydia beeping the horn at Allison. "You better go before Lydia decides that beeping the horn isn't getting the job done."

With a laugh and wave over her shoulder, Allison hops into the car, slides on her sunglasses and presses her lips together at the pinched look on Lydia’s face, “Sorry!”

"You better be," despite Lydia’s hard, unwavering tone, it’s ruined by the crinkle in her eyes and the joking twist of her lips. "I’m just anxious to see him, that’s all." Derek had applied for his Masters program secretly while the rest of them were stressing over colleges. When Lydia accepted Yale’s offer, Derek simultaneously informed them that he was going to New York.

Stiles makes kissy noises from the backseat, which earns him a scowl and the bird from Lydia as they turn on the freeway with an hour and a half left until their little family is finally complete.

"Hey! Hey, are you speeding?" Stiles tears his gaze away from his phone to stare at the speedometer and then at Lydia with bulging eyes.

Lydia shrugs and doesn’t bother to take her foot off the gas, “Relax, Stilinski. “

Stiles retaliates by going on a spiel about how Derek and Lydia have managed to be ‘that couple’ even more so apart than they have ever been when they’re together.

Lydia turns up the radio in response and Scott nuzzles Stiles’ neck to get him to quiet down before Lydia kicks him out of the car at ninety miles per hour.

With a grin, Allison squeezes her best friend’s hand, leaving it there with her fingers locked in Lydia’s own, happy to have Lydia so close after the long months of separation, and turns her attention to the passing scenery.

When the nuzzling turns into wandering hands and muffled groping noises, the radio goes from a soft murmur to a full blast, startling the two apart. Stiles protests loudly but gives up when Lydia only turns the music up, opting to sing along rather than argue, and he yields, dropping his head into Scott's lap with a yawn.

The song goes on about love found and lost, the story of a couple that weren't meant to be but maybe could have been.

It’s not the first time she finds herself thinking of Kali. It’s certainly not the first time she misses her so much her stomach twists into tight little knots.

It’s just the first time she lets herself wallow in regret over letting her get away.

———

Unfortunately, summer does not go as planned and Allison finds herself being taken away from her position as lifeguard at the community pool to the hospital only two weeks after coming home.

She’s brought in, surrounded by scrubs and lab coats and the sterile smell she hates so much, and rushed into an operating room.

Apparently the cramps she had been feeling all week weren’t cramps but were instead her appendix saying: ‘hey, Allison, you should take me out before I explode.’

Long story short, it ruptured and now Allison finds herself in some out of body experience watching herself get cut open as they try to clean up the mess.

She’s not sure how long she exists in limbo but she knows Lydia is pacing angrily outside the waiting room, not to be calmed by anyone other than Allison’s surgeon herself. She bites off Derek's head a few times, not that it jars him in the slightest, and somehow allows Scott to rub soothing circles on her back until she's composed herself enough to return back to her previous pacing. Her parents are there, sitting together, her mom’s head resting on her dad’s shoulder while Kate lounges only a few seats away looking eerily calm despite the tense atmosphere, staring anywhere but at Derek- who does the same in return.

Eventually she can feel her heart beating in her chest, a steady rhythm that puts her back in her own body and though her eyes are so, so tired, she opens them and is unfairly rewarded by bright lighting of her hospital.

"Finally," Lydia looks more annoyed than she should be considering the fact that Allison’s appendix had literally exploded- but she knows the annoyance is just a cover for the worry that had Lydia biting up her newly done nails.

"Ugh," her mouth tastes like paste and Allison can feel someone holding her other hand so she squeezes and smiles widely when she sees that it’s Kate. "Hey."

"Hey kiddo," Kate presses a soft kiss to Allison’s forehead and Allison can feel the tension leave her in one huge burst, "You gave us quite a scare."

Allison forms an apology on her tongue but it dies somewhere behind her lips by the looks both Kate and Lydia give her, "Where are my parents?"

"Talking to your doctor," Lydia hands her a cup of water, gently positioning the straw to Allison's chapped lips and her smile is wobbly. "They should be back soon."

She's not sure if her parents do make it back at all because she's tricked into sleeping by the hypnotic sound of beeping and the reassuring way Kate runs her nails up and down Allison's arm. Her dreams are bleak, filled with muted colors and a dull ache that should be in her stomach but pulls relentlessly at her chest. She wants out of this dream world filled with expressionless faces and voices that all sound the same. It's Stepford Wives meets Alien Invasion, where everyone's voices sound as if they're being heard through the echoes of a seashell. Nausea churns at her stomach and the stitches pull open, one by one, to release colorless butterflies.

The butterflies turn into moths and the moths die in her hands, disappearing into ash that blows away with a wind that never touches her skin. She runs in her dream, runs from the voices and the faces, runs far from the bleak world in search of color and wakes with a start when someone presses their cold hand to her forehead.

"Relax, it's okay." Kali stares down at her with worried eyes and Allison feels the tears prick at the corners of her vision; she's surrounded by color now, there's so much of it at once and Allison doesn't know why she does it, but her hand reaches up and cups Kali's face weakly. "Hey."

"Hey," her throat burns from disuse but it doesn't matter because Kali's fingers are cold on her skin, curling around Allison's wrist, not letting go even though they probably shouldn't be touching one another at all. "How're my odds, nurse?"

Kali suppresses an eye roll but can't quite hide her grin, "Looks like you'll survive." She stiffens then, dropping her hand and turning painfully away, leaving Allison to stare at her back with a frown. It wasn't progress, but it was something- and Allison wasn't planning on letting that something slip away so easily this time.

"Kali," she doesn't turn back to Allison but Allison knows she's listening, "don't."

"I have to go check on my other patients, Allison."

"But you'll come back." It's not a question and she knows she gets her point across when Kali's shoulders sag slightly, "If I find out you passed me off to another nurse, I'll find you."

Kali hovers by the door, one hand gripping the frame while the other taps the chart against her leg to a beat that's too fast for Allison to follow. "You can’t get out of bed. Doctor's orders."

Allison scrunches up her nose in annoyance before she shrugs, "Fine. I'll have Lydia find you."

Her laugh echoes throughout the room, something that startles the both of them, and the genuine sound of it has Allison's toes curling. "Alright. I'll see you later, then."

"Yeah, later." Despite the pact she made with herself to go slow; to ease into this with time and care, her eyes still drop to Kali's ass as she strides away and the sharp grin doesn't leave her face until Lydia arrives with Stiles in tow.

"I saw Kali down the hallway," Lydia gestures for Stiles to give her the backpack he's carrying and opens it up to reveal real, non-crappy, awful smelling, weirdly shaped, food. "She seemed...happy."

"She's my nurse," her words are muffled around the hamburger she's shoving into her mouth, and while her attention is divided from the fries in the bag, over to where Stiles is guarding the door while simultaneously catching her up on what she's missed back in the real world, and then over to where Lydia sits primly in her seat pretending that she's not the least bit unnerved at the fact that she's back in a hospital room again, Allison doesn't miss the narrowing of Lydia's eyes in consideration or the way her friend frowns as if she had just gotten a whiff of something sour. "Lyds."

Lydia taps her fingers along the metal frame of Allison's bed and tries not too seem too concerned or worried at the prospect of Allison getting her heart broken yet again— she fails terribly at both.

"Allison's a big girl," Stiles ignores Lydia glaring daggers into his back, turning so that he can meet the blades head on, "Oh, come on."

"You were there, you remember what happened last time."

"You're right, I was there. I watched her handle the breakup the way most people handle breakups. She moped, she got up, got over it, and she forced herself to push up and past it." When Lydia opens her mouth, Stiles cuts her off, "I'm not saying she wasn't hurt, Lydia. What I am saying is that she's smart enough to know whether or not the hurt is worth the reward this time around."

Allison isn't sure if Stiles just backed her up or gave her a warning— or somehow managed to do both— but she appreciates the support. "Nothing's even happened. I had just woken up when she arrived."

Lydia looks entirely unconvinced, as if somehow Allison and Kali had managed to have sex in the bed despite the fact that Allison has a _string of stitches holding her stomach together_ and is forbidden to do any serious movement for at least couple of days, if not a week. "Okay."

"Seriously, all I did was ask her not to change nurses on me."

"Why?"

"Because I trust her," it's Stiles this time who shoots her the _'I'm not a complete dumbass'_ look, which only seems to make the situation worse, "and also because I want to win her back."

"She's the one who dumped you, remember?"

"Right, but not without good reason. Things were...hard. We barely got to see each other and we both had so much work to do."

Lydia's knuckles are white from where they're gripping the bed frame, "How do you know that's the real reason? Maybe she wanted to date someone closer— someone more her age."

Lydia's words hit her hard, ripping at her until every stitch is open, leaving her a gaping wound, vulnerable and exposed to the world. "Lyds, what do you know?"

"Nothing."

Stiles is staring at Lydia with a horrified expression and Allison can't quite stop the tears from falling.

"Lydia," she tries again, this time not bothering to hide the pain in her voice, " _please._ "

There's pain in her green eyes when Lydia turns to her; her lips are trembling and her grip on the bed post falters, hands falling limply into her lap. "About a week after the breakup, Derek was back in Beacon Hills to pick up some stuff he and I both left behind during the move. While he was here, he saw Kali and one of the nurses he knew from the gym, Ennis, out at the diner. He thought nothing of it until Ennis walked her to her car and then..." Allison doesn't want to hear it, she doesn't want to hear what Lydia has to say but she can't find the strength to open her mouth and beg her to stop, "then they kissed. I wanted to tell you but Scott called that night, he said you weren't getting out of bed and he could barely get you to eat any other than tomato soup. I didn't want to make it worse."

"I know," she's not mad, not really, and especially not at Lydia, who was thinking with Allison's best interests in mind as she always does.

It's not like Kali had cheated; she hadn't done anything wrong. They were broken up and there was nothing wrong with testing the waters; nothing wrong with picking straight up and greeting the world head-on. Allison can't be mad, can't blame Kali for moving on when they had both agreed it was for the best. It stings, burns almost as bad as explosion of, lets say, an organ inside of her body, but there's nothing she can do but suck it up and move on.

Hospitals probably frowned upon their recovering patients drinking their problems away anyways. "It's okay."

"I should have told you sooner."

"Yeah," Allison squeezes her hand and smiles, "maybe. But, it's fine, really. You were being a good friend— you were acting as my _best_ friend— and I'm okay. Would I have liked to hear about this sooner before I created an elaborate plan in my head to win her back— which may or may not have been influenced by the drugs they're pumping into me? Okay, yeah...probably, but at least I know now before I made a fool of myself." Neither Lydia nor Stiles buy what she's selling them for a second, but they let it go for the moment— or at least until Scott arrives.

Scott arrives only a few minutes later, but it's only to gather up Stiles and Lydia. He presses a lingering kiss to Allison's forehead, conveying his understanding that she needs some time to herself, needs to rest and recoup and gather her jumbled thoughts, rather than discuss her doomed romantic life.

It's scary, yet oddly comforting, that he still manages to know her better than everyone else and Allison is more than grateful for the silence that follows their absence.

Her parents visit— her dad sneaks her in dinner and her mom bakes her cookies that they leave under Stiles' forgotten sweatshirt— but they don't stay long because none of the Argents do hospitals well. Kate comes in right before visiting hours are closed with a large teddybear and a ridiculous sized balloon.

Allison lets herself break down and manages to scoot over just enough for Kate to climb up on the bed and hold her close, the same way she did the first time Allison told her of her heartbreak. Visiting hours go up just as Allison collects herself back together; her red, puffy eyes hidden under Kate's handy-dandy concealer.

Melissa peeks her head in just seconds after it hits eight, her arms full of various blankets that she drapes over Allison, and murmurs to Kate that it's time to go.

Kate manages to sneak an obnoxious eskimo kiss out of Allison, arms coming around her, face pressing into her hair where she leaves a loud, smacking kiss. "Love you, sweetie."

"I love you too."

Melissa visits a few more times before her shifts ends, leaving Allison alone with late night re-runs and her own thoughts. She doesn't expect to see Kali until the next morning, so when the door opens right as Rachel tells Ross she never got on the plane, Allison can't quite smother her yip of surprise.

"Sorry," Kali looks anything but and pulls a chair over to Allison's bedside, almost sitting on the cookies in the process. "What is this? Illegal contraband?"

"I won't tell if you won't."

Kali tilts her head to the side, finger coming to rest on her chin in an over exaggerated gesture of consideration before she takes a large bite of one of the cookies and props her feet up on Allison's bed. "I never saw these."

"Me either." Allison takes one for herself and nibbles nervously along the edges. Apparently Kali is still as familiar with her nervous habits as Allison is with her's because the TV is put on mute right as Ross and Rachel kiss, "Hey, that's the good part-"

"Allison."

" _Kali_."

Kali waits a moment before she puts the cookie down, hands folding together in her lap. "You know."

Shoving a cookie into her mouth, Allison claps internally along with the Friends' theme and avoids eye contact, "Lydia told me. I'm...happy that you're happy. Really."

A commercial for a new, never seen before, use-without-changing-your-diet pill plays in the background when Kali turns to her, eyes vulnerable in a way that Allison hasn't seen since the night in the shower when Kali first told her she loved her. "It was one date. He was everything; funny, nice. He held the door for me and ended the date with a kiss that was cavity worthy." Allison breaks the cookie into smaller and smaller pieces, shoulders locking together as she tries to keep herself from breaking apart at the seams. "But there was never another date after that. I couldn't do it."

Allison doesn't let out the breath she had been holding in, instead she lets it sit, a dead weight in her chest, a burning in her lungs, a reminder that this is real and happening. When she does breathe, it's through blurry eyes and cramped fingers. "Oh."

Kali extends her hand only to pull it back, unsure that her touch would be welcome after all this time. "I want to be friends. I want you in my life, Allison."

"Okay," she could do friends. "Okay, friends it is."

"Yeah?" Kali takes a bite of a cookie to hide the smile on her face and reminds herself that this time around they have to have rules and guidelines, that being friends is all they can be. And, even though she reminds herself of this as she eats another contraband cookie, she doesn't pull away when Allison slides her fingers along the contours of Kali's hand before wrapping their pinkies together.

———

Loss is inevitable. The idea that eventually, in this world or the next, the people you love will be taken from you is a hollow sort of truth.

Allison understands this; she carries this truth deep in her chest, behind her ribs that work like prison walls, keeping the rampant beating of her heart locked away along with the truths she never wants to let escape.

Loss is a part of life; whether you like it or not. Its presence lingers long after a loved one is gone, appearing uninvited on anniversaries and birthdays, on simple occasions where you think you're over it but you never truly are.

The anniversary of Laura’s death follows quickly behind Cora’s birthday, where a toast was made in the sister's honor, forever loved and never forgotten.

The day is hard for both Cora and Derek, but it always hits Derek just that little bit harder, just deep enough to rob him all of breath and leave him uncertain if the emptiness will ever truly fade.

They all come back to Beacon Hills— not just to remind Cora and Derek that they’re not alone, but to help Erica, Boyd and Lydia battle the demons— and it’s raining, the sound of it angrily pounds against the roof of Allison’s car and for once she’s glad Stiles is driving.

Scott is catching up homework for his law class in the backseat and the radio is on low, loud enough to cover the silence that the rain doesn’t fill, but quiet enough that Stiles can keep his concentration steady.

They're having dinner at Derek’s place later, and though the rain only grows worse, it’s veered them only slightly off schedule.

"Are you sure you don't want to just come back to my house?" Stiles takes his eyes off the road for a moment to look at Allison, who’s curled up in the passenger seat, lost in the limbo between awareness and sleep.

"I promised Kate I'd stop by." The anniversary of Laura’s death is still an open wound for Kate also; it’s something that Allison fears Kate will never let heal. No one blames Kate more than she does herself- not even Derek, who sometimes looks at Allison as if she’s seconds from becoming Kate, as if she’s walking some invisible line that doesn't truly exist.

Laura’s death was ruled an accident, she had left Kate’s bar- tipsy but not drunk- to go home and pick up some extra clothes so she could stay the weekend curled up in bed with Kate at her place, surrounded by booze and cheesy rom-coms. Kate had sworn Laura was fine, she had only had one drink and it’s not the Hales were known for being lightweights, and yet Laura’s car veered off the road, through the railing and heading down, down, down, until it became nothing but scraps of metal and a graveyard.

When they pull up in front of the bar, Scott is pulling off his seatbelt, ready to walk Allison in, but is stopped by a warm hand on his shoulder.

"I'll be fine."

"It's raining," it's a feeble excuse but he's never been good at lying, or hiding his concern from others.

"Scott," kissing his cheek, then Stiles', Allison shoots them both a winning smile before tossing her door open and popping open the umbrella, hefting her duffle bag over her shoulder as the water laps up around her boots, "I'll see you later."

"Seven. Don't be late, or Lydia will skin you and turn you into a nice handbag."

Allison shudders at the image, waving them off as she slides through the back door of the bar, calling out for her aunt. There's food on the back burner and she can smell something baking in the oven, but, oddly enough, her aunt is no where to be seen.

Kate appears, wet and shaking, fear echoing in her eyes. "Allison, go."

"Kate, what-"

"Ah, ah, ah, there is she is, the youngest Argent." Peter Hale steps through the doorway, his eyes shining glossily, inebriated and overcome with grief. "She looks like you, probably not as damaged. At least, not yet." The gun he's holding shakes slightly and Allison's eyes move from him to Kate and then back to him again.

Kate moves quickly, putting herself between Allison and the barrell. "Let her go. She's not apart of this. She was just a child when Laura died."

Peter's laughter reminds Allison of the fear that brews after a scary movie; the kind that has you examine shadows and looking over your shoulder because anything and everything is a cause for suspicion. "She's a part of this more than you know. You took someone I loved from me, it's only fair that you suffer the same way I have. The same way my family has for years because of you."

"Don't you think I know that?" Kate's voice is ragged, broken and desperate; one of her hands slides back, palm open, and Allison takes it, knowing that it's helping her just as much as it's helping Kate. "Don't you think I've suffered too? I loved her, Peter. I loved her and I let her get behind the wheel when I should have _checked_. I should have made sure she was okay to drive and because I didn't she's gone. I lost her because I made a stupid mistake- one that I can never make right."

Allison blinks the tears from her eyes and squeezes desperately at Kate's hand, trying to convey all the words she dares not to say- not now at least.

"Don't act like you know." Peter's smile is manic, movement frazzled, as if someone is pumping electricity through his veins. "Don't act like you understand."

Kate's tears fall slowly down her cheeks, the knots in her stomach twist tighter when Peter's eyes stare blankly through Allison, revenge tinting his eyes' vision. "I loved her too."

"You should have let her go," his finger flirts along the trigger, pressing in for a moment before he lets go, hands running through his hair, steps uneven as he paces. "She stayed here because of you. She was going to go to New York- she was going to live her dream and she stayed here to help you and this _stupid bar_."

Allison moves so that she's shoulder to shoulder with Kate, fingers still interlaced with her aunt's, locked on tight, unable- unwilling- to let go. "It was an accident, Mr. Hale. What happened to Laura was nothing short of horrible, but it was an accident. You have to know that. Kate wouldn't have hurt Laura."

Peter shakes his head and lets out a long, pained sigh, words slurring together as he leans heavily against the doorframe, shoulders sagging from the weight of his sins. "It was an accident."

"Yes," Allison nods and keeps her voice soft, unthreatening. In her pocket the Sheriff's voice is filled with worry, spiking high when he hears Peter in the background, and she hopes that they'll be able to get there in time. "An accident."

"I killed her. I ran her off the road." Peter drops his head into his hands, tears leaving angry marks down his skin, "It was me. It was me. You let me leave."

Kate blinks in shock, lips forming a small 'O', "you gave Gerard your keys. I saw you."

"And he gave me them back, he said I was fine to drive." Kate and Allison's stomachs sink simultaneously, bile rising in their throats, "I didn't even see her until it was too late and then she was gone. Just gone. Right over the side."

"You? You killed her?" Kate's other hand clenches into a fist, anger pulsing inside of her, "You ran your own niece off the road and never even bothered to tell anyone?"

Peter aims the gun at Kate, eyes wild, "It was you. You killed her."

"No!" Kate snarls at him, fury radiating in every word, "you killed Laura. You killed her just like you almost killed Lydia. It should have been you, Peter."

"Don't-"

"Kate, please, stop."

His attention shifts from Kate to Allison instantly, gun aimed point blank at Allison's head, finger heavy on the trigger. "Apologize, Kate. Apologize, or I'll kill her."

Kate's mouth hangs open, lost somewhere between anger and alarm, "I'm sorry, Peter. I'm sorry."

The gun lowers and Allison barely has time to catch her breath before Kate is falling, crashing back into the counter, blood staining her clothing and there's screaming, both from her mouth and her ears. Allison's applying pressure, throat tight, eyes blurry, when the Sheriff bursts through the door. Peter's already dropped the gun by then, a smile on his face as one of the deputies rushes him, slamming him up against the wall as he cuffs him.

"It was a nice try, but we both know she didn't mean it.""

"Fuck you," she watches him go out the door, glad he's in cuffs, and struggles against the Sheriff's hands when they come around her, gently pulling her away from Kate's limp form. "No, please, no. I have to stay with her."

"Allison," his grip isn't as tight as it could be and she beats her blood stained fists against his chest when they take Kate away on a stretcher, already feeding an IV into her arm. "Allison, come on. You have to get cleaned up and then I'll take you to the hospital."

"I have to be there."

The Sheriff nods and ushers her into the passenger seat of his cruiser, waving over a medic to get Allison checked out as he delegates to the remaining offers and flips on his lights. It doesn't take them long to get to the hospital and Melissa is already there waiting for them, a blanket in one hand, pills in another. "Melissa."

"I've got her," tucking Allison against her side, Melissa wraps the blanket snugly around her shaking form and sits her down so that she can take the pills. "I heard about Kate."

"Yeah," the Sheriff runs a tired hand down his face, "it was pretty bad."

Melissa nods, hands squeezing Allison's shoulders supportively, "Come on, sweetheart, I'll take you to her."

Everything passing moment is hazy, lost somewhere in the corners of her mind where gunshots can't echo and Kate's blood doesn't run down the sunny yellow tiles in the kitchen, seeping into the cracks, pooling around the grates, trickling into the darkness. Her parents arrive sometime between the time Melissa leaves her to get a status report on Kate and the pills take effect, calming Allison's jarred nerves. The tinny sound that echoes in her ears doesn't stop; every noise sounds off, different and unsettling.

She sits in the uncomfortable plastic chair numbly, hands seemingly clean but Allison can still see the vague tints of red that hides under her nail bed. She can barely breathe, barely let herself relax before the sound of a gunshot rings clearly through her mind, the sight of Kate falling back, stomach ripped open by such a small object, replays constantly behind her eyelids.

"Allison? Allison! Get out of my way, dammit." Lydia is pushing past an aggravated nurse, sending him catapulting forward, startled by the amount of force she has in that little body of hers. "Ally?"

Allison barely manages to exert enough strength to lift her head up, but when she does, all it takes is the sight of Lydia to have her breaking, hands violently quaking, sobs ripping through her as she falls into her best friend's arms and lets the scream she's been holding in behind her teeth tear free.

Lydia catches her as she falls, arms wrapping around her in a vice grip, "It's okay, I'm here. I've got you, sweetie." Derek appears off to her side, his hands heavy on Lydia's shoulders, guiding her up off the floor and onto a couch down the hallway. She cradles Allison close to her, burying her face into Allison's hair, fingers carving little half moons into the fabric of Allison's shirt.

Victoria and Chris join them minutes later and Lydia passes Allison off reluctantly, she knows she should give the family time alone but she doesn't leave the couch, doesn't stop hovering until Allison pulls her face from Chris' shirt and reaches back towards Lydia-- just like Lydia knew she would.

They stay wrapped up in one another until Scott and Stiles arrive, the two of them pausing only to talk to their respective parents before moving quickly towards Allison, engulfing her into their arms.

Allison clings to Scott's shirt, pulling herself closer to Stiles, legs twisted with Lydia's as the small group takes up every inch of the couch, Derek balancing on the arm, keeping them grounded.

"Allison?" Kali squats down so that she's eye to eye with her; there's blood on Kali's scrubs and Allison wants to ask who's it is but she can't seem to find her voice just yet. "Kate is out of surgery. The bullet missed all vital organs, but she'll end up having a nasty scar. We're getting her settled in, so you can go see her in about ten minutes, okay?"

Biting down on her lip, Allison manages to nod, one hand creeping out between Scott and Stiles' to squeeze at Kali's in thanks.

"She's not out of the woods yet, she did lose a lot of blood, but all in all, things could have been much, much worse."

"Thank you, Kali." Scott's eyes say more than his words do and Kali understands what he's telling her loud and clear.

Patting Allison's knee, Kali stands up, ignoring the loud crack that accompanies the movement, "I'll come get you when they've cleared her for visitors."

Allison's face is already buried back in Scott's neck and she dozes there, mentally and physically exhausted, surrounded by the sound of her friend's voices and their warmth.

It's Victoria who comes to get Allison, her eyes red rimmed but hopeful and Allison clings to that hope and Lydia's hand as she makes her way towards Kate's room.

A gasp catches on her tongue at the sight of Kate surrounded by machines, her heart beat beeping steadily, chest rising and falling in a soothing rhythm. She's pale, face drawn, veins more prominent than Allison has ever seen, but she's alive. She's alive and Allison rushes to her side, tripping over her own feet as she clasps Kate's cold hand in her own and whispers I love yous into her skin.

They know the visiting hours by heart now, so when no one comes to tell them to leave during their visit three days later, Allison moves from her father's side over to the doorway, peering out into the empty hall.

Kali is leaning up against the nurses station in a pair of bright pink scrubs, her hair piled on top of her head in an incredibly messy bun. Allison starts towards her without thinking and Kali senses her presence just as Allison presses her lips to hers and holds on tight.

The nurse at the station clears her throat, causing Kali to blindly grab at Allison's hand, pulling her into an empty room. "Allison, what-"

"I'm sorry, I can't be just friends. This week, I almost lost Kate," Allison runs her thumbs along the tiny scars littering the top of Kali's hand, tracing each individual line slowly. "I almost lost her and as cliche as it sounds, it made me realize that I can't take for granted what I do have. I still love you, Kali. I tried to move on, to let you go, to be friends, but I can't. I'm not even sorry that I can't because I wouldn't want to change how I feel about you. Life is so short, Kali, and not everyone gets to feel this way but I do. I get to and I'm not going to waste that feeling. I love you."

Kali is quiet, eyes trailing along Allison's features, fingers brushing across her skin, sweeping down her cheeks to cup at her face, thumb stroking her cheekbones. “I love you too.”

Allison stares at her through dark lashes and struggles to swallow, “Yeah?”

"I never stopped."

She’s fully aware how cheesy the line is but Allison can’t seem to care once her lips are back Kali's and her body is pressed warm against Allison's own, fingers clutching against the free arm she’s wrapped around her waist, keeping them cemented together.

When they pull back she struggles to not only catch her breath but also the thoughts running around in her mind, "I should get back."

"Yeah," Kali’s breath ghosts against her skin and she kisses the top of Allison's nose then her lips, kissing her over and over in quick bursts that leave her heart beating erratically and her lips swollen, “in a minute."

Pushing Kali towards the bed, Allison lets the bubbling laughter escape in the form of a snort, earning a snigger from Kali as she work's on unbuttoning Allison's pants. Kali's shirt is the first to go, quickly joined by her pants and Allison lets Kali work on her pants as she tosses her own shirt off and unbuttons Kali's bra with a cheer.

Allison teeth, blunt and bruising, muffle her cry of shock against Kali's shoulder as her fingers slip between Allison's legs, teasing at her thighs until she's trembling, quaking and shivering as Kali's fingers curve upwards, jerking Allison as if she's a puppet on a string. Kali's mouth moves over her neck, up towards the curvature of her jaw, biting until she reaches her mouth.

“God,” Kali bites down on Allison's bottom lip, mixing the pain and the pleasure until they've become one and the taste of iron is heavy on Allison's tongue. “Allison,” Kali's fingers slide into her with a practiced ease, one finger quickly being joined by another, stretching and filling Allison.

With a sense of urgency, Allison claws at Kali's back, dipping her head down so that she can leave a bruising trail across Kali's collarbone. Kali's burns her own marks into Allison's as she presses her lips into the curve of Allison's shoulder and grins devilishly, fingers moving at a rhythm Allison can barely keep up with. Her spine is filled with electricity that spreads to her fingers and toes, curling at her joints until they pop and she can feel the blood pumping, faster and faster, through her system.

As if Kali can sense Alison's need, she adds another finger, pushing Allison just that little bit more until the scream that had been building is working it's way up Allison's throat, clawing it's way out even though her lips are ragged from her own teeth and she knows— oh, _does she know_ — that she should be quiet. Kali's free hand draws symbols in the dip between Allison's breasts, the tips of her nails provoking gooseflesh across her breasts and down towards her abdomen. Kali lifts her fingers for a moment to trace the path of gooseflesh, darting along the jazzed line of Allison's appendix scar, before her mouth dips so that her tongue can pick up where her fingers left off, pushing Allison farther up on the bed, giving her access to a new angle.

Dragging her teeth slowly across Allison's already oversensitive skin, red marks appear in their wake, and Allison can barely keep her head above water, her thoughts drowning out as Kali bites gently down on Allison's breast and pushes a low, choked yell from Allison's throat.

Pulling her fingers out for a moment, Allison barely gets a chance to moan at the loss of contact before Kali thrusts them back in, harder this time, and Allison's spine arches off the bed, bowing beautifully upwards into Kali's embrace. It doesn't take long, with Kali's thumb gently brushing across Allison's clit and her fingers working at a newer, faster rhythm than before, before Allison's head is thunking back against the bed, mouth open in silent pleasure, waves crashing down all around her as she rides the feeling up as high as she can go.

It's a tidal wave, a massive crash that hits her body in full force and drowns her until she's gasping for air, chest heaving, her throat rubbed raw from the screams that had been drowned out.

"Was it good for you?" the light humor in Kali's voice has Allison peeking an eye open, licking her lips to rid them of the dry, chapped feeling that had formed.

Utilizing what little strength she has left, Allison presses a soft kiss to Kali's lips, "Better, I bet." Curling into Kali's warmth, she presses her palm gently against Kali's steadily beating heart and lets herself revel in the fact that this actually happened— that it was still happening.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"I think they're worth a bit more than that," Allison can feel the energy building up inside of her, the strength slowly returns to her legs, building back up in the contours of her spine, giving her just enough push to slide down Kali's body with a clever grin. "Actually, how about, instead of telling you, I'll just show you?"

Burying her fingers in the soft curls of Allison's hair, Kali arches slightly off the mattress, "I think— I think that's a good idea."

Allison uses her advantage to move her mouth over Kali's flat stomach, fingers ghosting across her sides, pushing down the waistband of her pants so that she can mouth at the marks it left. Moaning against Kali's stomach, she pushes the scrubs down farther, waiting until Kali has kicked them off, landing somewhere over near one of the chairs, before she presses her fingers against the fabric of Kali's thong, rubbing it over her clit.

"Still think it's a good idea?"

Kali swallows desperately, her throat dry, unable to make sound and she exhales tightly through her teeth when Allison hooks the thin fabric of Kali's thong around her fingers and tugs it down, her teeth trailing it's movements down her thighs. Kali lifts her hips, letting it fall to the ground and digs her fingers into the pale curve of Allison's shoulderblade.

Allison's laugh is sinful, amped up from adrenalin, her own climax and the madness of power that she holds in her hands as she ghosts a breath along Kali's clit before she sweeps her tongue out across the sensitive area. She takes a moment to pull back, to stare at Kali with eyes that tell Kali all she needs to know (that this is what Allison wants, what she has always wanted, to be buried between Kali's thighs as if it's her only salvation) before she thrusts her tongue back into Kali's sex.

"More," Kali begs softly, fingers falling to her sides, gripping at the ironically white hospital bedsheets, spreading her legs wider for Allison.

“More?” Allison doesn't stop, only adds two fingers into Kali's opening, moving them at a pace Kali couldn't even think about keeping up with. She adds another finger just as her other hand ghosts down across the curve of her side, teasing at her ass, pushing her towards her breaking point with just a few simple ministrations.

Kali swears into the pillow, biting down on it and lifting up onto her toes as Allison adds another finger and uses her tongue to entice another moan out of her. “Yes,” she nods, her ponytail is wet and clings to her skin, "yes.”

Allison swirls her tongue, teeth gently scraping along Kali's clit, before she adds another finger in slowly, pulling the rest out just to hear Kali's muffled scream break through the fabric of the pillow— music to Allison's ears. They don't have the supplies for Allison to add a finger into Kali's ass, to work her the way Kali enjoys best, but she settles for nipping at Kali's folds and sucking down, tongue darting in and out, joining her fingers until she can feel Kali's body bow and snap beautifully in one fluid movement.

Kali stills, her body quivering below Allison's as her orgasm rushes through her, engulfing her into the abyss. Her sight is nothing more than colored spots, her ears are ringing, mouth open and dry and Allison takes advantage of this by grabbing Kali at the nape of her neck and kissing her, tongue thrusting hard into her mouth.

Kali gets only a second to get her bearings about her before she sucks down on Allison's tongue in response, smiling into the biting nature of the kiss, letting Allison ride off the rest of her power before she collapses on top of Kali with a barely audible "oof."

Moments later, when she has her bra in one hand and Kali's thong in another, Allison shoots her a smug look. "My plan worked."

Kali realizes her scrub top is backwards a little too late and yanks her arms back inside of it, turning it around until it's on right. "Your plan?"

"My plan to win you back," Allison shimmies back into her jeans and checks her phone for any missed calls. None. Just two texts from Lydia that can wait for now.

Instead of asking about the plan like Allison thought she would, Kali snags her thong from her and kisses her until Allison's lips are once again suspiciously red, "How do you know it wasn't my plan that worked?"

Allison has her sweater halfway over her head when she turns to Kali, eyes wide and questioning, "Your plan?"

"My plan to win you back," Kali clips her badge back in place and reaches for her shoes, coming up with only one sock.

With her sweater hanging around her neck and her hands on her hips, Allison looms over Kali, annoyed that she wasn't the only one with an apparent plan. "You wanted me back?"

"From the moment I saw you in that hospital bed," Kali ties her shoelaces without meeting Allison's gaze, lifting her head for a moment to once again run her fingers across Allison's scar, "I knew you were it for me." Allison doesn't say anything and Kali loops her arms around her waist, pulling her towards her, her body as limp as a doll's. "I knew I needed you in my life."

"Oh," there are tears threatening to spill in the corner of Allison's eyes, the glossy look of them is enough for Kali to pepper Allison's face with kisses, gently soothing the emotional girl. "You love me."

"I do," she knows it's something she'll have to prove, not just by words or by sex, but by her actions, by how she chooses to moves forward in their relationship.

Allison, despite her endless strength and unbreakable will, is still fractured and tender, even if she doesn't want to admit it— this all according to Lydia, who had cornered Kali and threatened her within an inch of her life (it also didn't help that Derek, Scott and Stiles, stood staring as menacingly as they could, throwing figurative daggers in her general direction while Lydia administered her verbal warning). Kali knows that know. She knows she has to make it better than before, even if it means moving out and taking a job to be near Allison while she's on campus. She won't fail her this time.

It's as much as a promise to Allison as it is to herself.

(Plus, the idea of Lydia's impending rage towards her if she does anything to cause Allison pain is terrifying enough to elicit even the most dire and momentous of changes.)

She nods for a few moments, her brain processing this information, and Kali watches her with wary eyes until the tears seem to pass— one lone one sneaking out, leaving a hot streak down Allison's cheek that Kali cleans up with a simple swipe of her thumb. Allison frames Kali's face in her hands, head titling to the side as she studies her, face soft and open, expecting everything yet nothing at all. "I love you too," and she kisses her without warning or notice, kisses with her own promises lingering on her lips.

———

"I'm going to ask Derek to marry me."

Allison blinks and stops chewing on her highlighter in order to give her full attention to where Lydia is sprawled out above her on the bed.

Lydia's finals had ended only a week prior, sending her home early while Derek stayed behind to finish out his internship. Not wanting to go home to Beacon Hills without everyone else being there, she instead drove over to Allison's dorm and made camp, providing her with Red Bull, endless amounts of coffee, and a beta for the papers Allison manages to churn out with only three hours of sleep under her belt. "What?"

Lydia huffs and Allison ignores the exasperated twinge to it because she knows it’s not out of annoyance but out of nerves, "I'm going to propose to Derek."

"Okay."

"Okay? That’s it?" the redhead frowns deeply and leans over to poke Allison roughly in the side, "What do you mean okay?"

Allison groans, flops over onto her back, and stares up at her best friend with an endearing sort of smile. "I mean: okay. It's not like I didn't see this coming, Lydia. You've been comparing colors and asking me what sort of cake flavors compliment each other for almost a month and a half."

The aloofness in her tone confuses Lydia so that she stutters slightly, words eluding her. "I know but that was— I was— and he's been— everything just made sense."

Allison presses her lips together and raises her eyebrows, "Wow. Brilliant."

"You know what I mean."

“You're right, I do.” they stare at one another for a moment before Allison cocks her head to the side and purses her lips together, "Does he make you feel like you can't breathe until you're with him? Do you force yourself to stop looking at the clock when you're away from him, waiting until you're free because you know he'll be right there waiting for you? Does he make you feel as if you can become whatever you put your mind to? That there's nothing you can't do?"

"Does he—" sighing, the future leader of the planet rolls over onto her back to stare up at Allison's apartment, her wine glass dangling from her fingers, "More than."

Allison sits up and nudges Lydia over, joining her up on her bed. "Good, because that's all that matters, at least to me— your happiness is all that matters. Okay?"

"Yeah," Lydia bumps her shoulder with Allison and slides her hand down so that their fingers interlace, "Okay."

The silence overtakes them to the point that Lydia finds herself drifting, slowly sliding towards the blurred edges of sleep, settled into the warmth from the blanket and her best friend, when Allison speaks back up.

“This means I should _finally_ tell you that Kali and I are moving in together, doesn't it?”

Lydia snorts and almost gets out 'duh' before she’s turning her head, eyes wide, "What?"

Allison is up, laughing and streaking across the room before Lydia can catch up with her, pillow in her hand as she calls Allison by her full name, demanding an explanation.

Two weeks later, Derek is hefting a box up the stairs to Kali's— and now Allison's too, whenever she's back in town- apartment with Stiles at his heels, both of them bickering over something or another.

There's a roast in the oven, Scott is setting the table and Boyd takes Erica's coat when she and Kali come slinking in, looking haggard and sleep deprived.

"How's your shadowing going?" Cora kisses Erica gently, framing her face with her hands before dropping them to rub at Erica's shoulders. "Baby?"

Erica's head had lulled to the side, eyes drooping, body becoming lax under Cora's talented fingertips. "Huh? Oh, good. It's good. Tiring, but I'm learning a lot. Kali's great and so is Melissa."

"Yeah," Scott's smile is like a double rainbow, lifting everyone's spirits without even trying, "Mom's pretty good at what she does."

"She's badass," Stiles comments from the living room where he's putting up a picture of himself, Scott and Allison on their first day of college. "Remember that one time she saved Danny's life?"

Sneaking a kiss over the top of the couch, Scott lets out a startled laugh when Stiles' slaps his ass and bypasses Lydia in the kitchen to get more knives. "Do I ever."

Lydia pokes at the roast and scrunches up her nose when Cora bumps her out of the way, "It looks done."

All Cora does is sniff the air before closing the oven back up and restarting the timer, "Five more minutes."

Flicking a curl over her shoulder, Lydia narrows her eyes at Cora's backside, humming to herself. Derek's hands cup her hips, pulling her back against him and he kisses the side of her head, "Why are you glaring at my sister?"

"I'm considering the possibility that the boarding school she went to were actually years spent in the woods where she was raised by wolves," Derek huffs out a laugh against her neck, "it's either that or she's a werewolf."

"A werewolf?" Nipping at her earlobe, Derek doesn't bother to hide the smile on his face. "Wouldn't that make me a werewolf too?"

"It would explain why you're so hairy."

This earned her a pinch on the butt, "Ha, ha. What does that make you?"

Turning around in his arms, Lydia locks her hands behind his neck and tugs him down so that she can brush her lips against his. "A banshee. Because of your expertise on making me scream."

Derek's brows furrow, "A banshee's scream is an omen of death, typically-" Lydia's lips cover his own and the rest his words are lost as her tongue brushes across his bottom lip, teeth nipping playfully.

"Guys," Cora taps impatiently at Derek's shoulder, "the roast is ready."

The tips of Derek's ears tint pink as the two of them back away from the oven, slinking off to the other side of the kitchen where Lydia fits perfectly in the groove between the fridge and the breakfast nook table.

"Hey, remember when we moved in together."

Derek nuzzles the curve of her ear, "One of the best days of my life."

"How about I make today another one of those days?" she feels him startle against her, fingers slipping from her waist. "Derek?"

"Lydia, what are you doing?" His heart is somewhere in his throat and the ring he had bought her is still sitting untouched in his dresser drawer. Glancing around, he can see his friends all smiling at him, tears forming in Cora's eyes, both Stiles and Scott giving him encouraging thumbs up.

She's not down on one knee, but her hand is hot against his and she's tracing his ring finger with intent. "Derek, will you marry me?"

Not about to find his words just yet, Derek catches her face in his hands and kisses her until there's no breath left between them and her happiness pulls at the corners of his mouth. "Yes."

Her laughter is accompanied by the sound of a cork popping and loud,ecstatic laughter.

Kali's fingers trace out the words _I love you_ into the small of Allison's back, "That's going to be us one day."

Allison tears her gaze away from the glow of Lydia's triumph to stare up at Kali, panic mixing with pure wonder, "You think so?"

Tilting Allison's chin upwards, Kali presses their foreheads together before coaxing her into a kiss thats mostly teeth due to Allison's uncontrollable grin, "I know so. I love you, Allison."

Sneaking a glance over Kali's shoulder, Allison watches Boyd dish out Erica's plate before handing it to Cora, who smoothes a hand over the top of Erica's hair, pressing a kiss there before she hands her brother a plate and gives Lydia yet another hug. Scott laughs loudly at Stiles' poor attempt to blow a raspberry on Scott's neck, dipping off to the side to answer the door as Isaac and Danny pile in— late due to their plane's delayed departure from Ireland, where Danny had dragged Isaac to for the first part of the summer— and the celebrations begin again. "I love you too, Kali."

———

The first thing Allison hears is beeping. Her mind is foggy, limbs heavy; her mouth feels like it's layered with cotton balls, eyes too blurry to see out of and it takes her three tries before she can move her hand to the side, reaching for something solid. She comes in contact with warm skin, a hand grips at hers, squeezing until her joints pop and she knows it's Lydia without having to see properly.

"Hey, you're in a hospital. You lost a lot of blood but you're going to be okay," Lydia's lips are hot on her forehead, "You have to be okay."

"'m fine," licking desperately at the roof of her mouth, Allison accepts the cup of water, realizing belatedly that her hand is bandaged and there's a thick IV pumping what has to be the good stuff into her system. "What happened?"

Stiles moves away from the window, his hand ghosting over her hair before he presses a soft kiss to her forehead, fingers shaking from the excess adrenaline in his system and the fear of losing her. "It was the twins. One moment they were a twinsformer and the next Ethan has his teeth in Derek's neck and Aiden has his claws through your abdomen. Kali came out of no where, she had all these holes in her body that were barely healing but she let out this fucking terrifying noise and ripped Aiden's arm clear off."

Allison looks at Lydia, worry lines forming around her eyes, but Lydia breaks only slightly, her teeth nibbling on her thumbnail, eyes blank. "Is he?"

"Dead. Both of the twins. Deucalion too. Derek killed Ethan—"

"—and I killed Aiden," dropping her hand to grasp at Allison's, Lydia brushes a stray curl away before sighing. "Turns out a banshee's scream can be more than just a warning. Who knew?"

"She's basically a strawberry blonde Black Canary," Stiles flops down in a chair and presumably goes to work sending Scott— or his father— a text.

"What about Jennifer?"

"She got away. Cora and Peter agreed to take care of the bodies, our parents are covering whatever tracks we left behind, and Scott is getting Derek checked out by Deaton." Taking Stiles' cue, Lydia slides a chair over to Allison's bedside and drops down into it, her body sagging with a weight Allison can barely comprehend. " It's been a long day."

"Yeah." they fall quiet when a nurse comes in to check on Allison's progress, her fingers nimbly checking vitals and switching buttons. Allison can feel the meds start to roll back through her system, a fog slowly starts to descend on her mind and she squeezes Lydia's fingers again, just for the sake of it. "What about Kali?"

Scott slips in then, Derek following after him and Allison can barely lift her hand to wave, instead she settles on waggling her fingers in a meek hello.

"Kali's dead," in completely unforeseen— except for the lingering stares, the feigned disinterested questions about one another's well-being and the overall sparking sexual tension— turn of events, Derek places his hands comfortingly on Lydia's shoulders, veins becoming prominent as he absorbs some of her emotional pain.

Allison doesn't feel the deadweight settle in her stomach; she already knew, from the very beginning, that what they had could only end in bloodshed. It was strong, fleeting, real, and now it was over. Just as simple as that.

The fog is sticky in her mouth and distorts her vision, pulling her back into the darkness. She can hear Scott's soothing voice around her, coaxing her into slumber, his hands heavy on her arm, taking away some of the pain. She falls back to sleep willingly; it’s easier, knowing that they're all there, waiting for her when she wakes up.

Later, when she wakes, she’ll deal with the both the external and internal scars she’ll have to carry around, now and forever.

But, in this moment, she dreams.

And when she dreams, she dreams of laughter, of friendship and families forming out of love, of romance, of Kali.

When she dreams, she always dreams of Kali.

Of her warmth; her smile; her wit; and the love Kali unwillingly showed her, even when the original plan she had been was to seduce and then kill the last Argent female.

In her dreams Kali’s alive; in her dreams they're happy; in her dreams they're in another world much different than this one.

In her dreams they're together— but only in her dreams.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sorry, friends.  
> i'm sorry.


End file.
